Blockbuster
Video magnate Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise
for his native Miami in 1992. The team's first major stars
were New York Rangers goalie castoff John Vanbiesbrouck, rookie
Rob Niedermayer, and Scott Mellanby, who scored 30 goals.
They had one of the most successful first seasons of any expansion
team, finishing one point below .500 and narrowly missing
out on the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
After
missing another close brush with the playoffs in 1994-1995,
coach Roger Neilson was fired and replaced by Doug MacLean.
They then acquired Ray Sheppard from the San Jose Sharks on
the trade deadline in 1996 and they looked towards the playoffs
for the first time.
The 1996
playoffs were a dream for the Panthers. They upset the Boston
Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins to reach
the Stanley Cup finals. South Florida was euphoric.
It came
to an end in the Stanley Cup finals though. Their opponents,
the Colorado Avalanche, would sweep the Panthers on Uwe Krupp's
third-overtime goal in game 4. The next season, a team ravaged
by injuries would lose to the New York Rangers on the first
round. More injuries caused the team to have their worst record
to that point in 1997-1998.
The Panthers
moved into the National Car Rental Center (now known as Office
Depot Center) in 1998, the new arena being the result of bickering
and threatening to move the team. In 1999, they acquired Pavel
Bure (the "Russian Rocket"), and they would reach
the playoffs again in 2000 riding on his 58 goals.
Bure
slumped in 2000-2001 and he was traded. The Panthers would
have their worst record ever in 2001-2002.
Founded:
1993-1994
Arena: Office Depot Center (capacity 19,452)
Uniform colors: red, navy, gold, white
Logo design: a panther (puma subspecies)
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